Lots of catching up to do.
Between all the doctor appointments and other kid activities, Lauren and
I have been falling in love. Now some
adoptive parents will tell you they are totally in love with their new child
the minute they are matched on paper. I
will say the attachment does start there as you carry around a little blurry
photo of your new child for months before your actual first meeting and
adoption, but love takes time. I
remember when we adopted Lily that for a few weeks I felt like I was just
taking care of someone else’s child and not my own. Now don’t get me wrong, I was thrilled to
finally meet Lauren but these past few weeks our relationship has blossomed into
a true love affair. I now have a better
understanding of her personality and it sparkles! When she smiles, you can’t help but smile
too. Meeting Lauren and officially
becoming her parents just three hours later, is definitely a leap of faith but
discovering the many layers of her personality are a complete joy.
We had our first doctor’s appointment January 16th
with Lauren’s local pediatrician, Dr. Andrews.
She had fluid in both ears so Dr. Andrews put her on amoxicillin for 10
days. She started the series of shots
that will eventually get Lauren caught up on vaccinations. Generally doctors in the states don’t rely on
shot records from China or test the titer, they just start over. Lauren got three shots that day and did fine,
very little crying once the princess stickers floated in front of her
face. Then it was on to the lab for the
blood work. This process did not go as
well. It took two of us holding her down
and still they were not able to get enough blood for all the testing as Lauren
was able to bend her arm and the needle came out with both sticks. Lauren was screaming and her little cheeks
were flaming red and she felt like she was burning up. So happy to leave but sad to know we would
have to return for another blood draw to complete the testing. They test for hepatitis, TB, aids and I don’t
know what all else, but a bunch of stuff.
We returned two days later and Lauren started screaming from
the time we walked in the lab door to when we left but the good news is that
the person holding her this time was able to keep her arm still and the job was
done quickly. No more blood draws for
awhile please!
I found out that St. John’s Mercy is affiliated with Mercy
Children’s hospital in St. Louis so would be in our insurance network. Dr. Andrews said that the head of the cleft
lip/palate team, Doctor Marsh was
considered the guru for pediatric plastic surgery. I called the clinic and after describing
Lauren’s current situation the team coordinator said, “hold on, I need to get
you in soon, I’ll see if I can find a room for next Friday.” I was impressed with her attitude. Now I had a dilemma, I already had an
appointment to meet the team at Mercy Children’s hospital in Kansas City
scheduled for February 19th but here was a team that was willing to
fit me in quickly. After talking to John
we decided to go for the appointment in St. Louis. Lauren and I would travel to St. Louis on Thursday
the 24th and meet with the team at 8am on 1/25.
The weather looked a little dicey on the 24th,
some ice and freezing rain was predicted but the temperatures on the 25th
looked good, up to 46 degrees, so I was not too worried about traveling. Lauren and I had a great time swimming in the
hotel pool, she loves water, and learned quickly to put her arms up, head down
and blow bubbles.
We must have met with around 8 different disciplines on the
25th, I kind of lost track. I
was impressed with Dr. Marsh. After
meeting with everyone and having Lauren’s hearing tested the bottom line is
that her ear drums are not moving at all and the hearing loss is mild to
moderate in one ear and moderate to severe in the other. Her ears are filled with fluid. She needs to get this corrected so that she
can start learning English. Dr. Marsh
said that because Lauren is embarking on learning a completely new language,
the hands of time are turned back in her speech development. This is because she will be making new sounds
that she has never attempted in the past, so she does not have any bad
habits. He said that if she were to
continue in Mandarin, that her speech would always be impaired but by switching
languages she has a very good chance of having normal speech. He said he has seen this happen many times
over the years with foreign adoptees.
Great news! The hearing test
indicated the hearing loss is due to the fluid and not permanent damage. The speech therapist was amazing and wants to
see Lauren in 3-6 months to work with her for an hour. She thinks Lauren will be a quick study and
said she wished we lived closer because she would love to be her teacher. Dr. Marsh said he probably does not need to
see her for another 9-12 months, depending on her speech development. He plans on doing her rhinoplasty surgery in
about a year which surprised me as I thought they typically waited until the
patient stopped growing.
As soon as we arrived home I started calling to make appointments,
one for the local ENT, Dr. Allphin, one to pediatric dentist, Carrie Arquitt
and one to the Springfield Public Schools.
I was able to get into Dr. Allphin on 1/30 and after seeing the amount
of fluid in her ears he said she really needed tubes put in to drain the fluid
so she could begin to work on a new language.
I was in total agreement. They
were able to schedule her outpatient surgery for Feb 1, the sooner the better
in my way of thinking.
I have also been working on the preschool arrangements. We knew we wanted Lauren to attend the MSU
Child Development Center, but they did not have an opening at this time. I had been on the waiting list since
November. In the meantime I was able to
tour the child development center at OTC and they have a very similar program
to MSU but they do not provide services in the summer. My thought was to start her at OTC and then
transition to MSU in the summer when they assured me there would be an
opening. Yesterday I got a call from the
assistant director at MSU and she said a family has just turned in their 2 week
notice due to a family crisis. I hate to
back out on OTC as nice as they have been to us but it will be so nice for
Lauren to have the consistency of only one preschool. Things just seem to work out in the end;
patience is all that is needed.
Lauren attended Sunday school last week and stayed the
entire time and no crying. It helps if
Daddy is the drop off person as Lauren does not have the same attachment with
me as with me. I just stayed around the
corner where she could not see me. The
teachers were wonderful with her and she brought home her art work to display. She was very proud of the name tag they made
for her.
More photos soon.......
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